Trio Clinical Research may not be in the rapid growth mode it was forecasting last year when its owners sold a majority stake to two equity groups. But things are moving along nicely for the contract research organization (CRO) and research staffing hybrid.

Kurt Mussina joined the company as senior VP of business development in March. It was “more or less flat” in the winter and spring, he reports. But the work in Trio's sales pipeline has doubled over the summer.

Mussina says the Drug Information Association (DIA) 45th annual meeting in San Diego was a factor, generating more business than in the past. Plus, Trio added a marketing and public relations staffer in April who has been heatedly working on direct mail and email campaigns as well as branding. (There will be no change to the firm's distinctive pastel colors and cartoons in its positioning.)

Mussina said Trio is trying to be more targeted in following up on sales leads, especially with sponsors working in therapeutic areas where Trio has conducted many trials, such as central nervous system, medical devices and infectious disease. “We're going to a lot more face-to-face meetings lately,” Mussina said. “We're really happy with the momentum we've started to build.”

Short Move

This month, Trio moved its headquarters from Durham to Raleigh, adding 3,000 square feet and occupying a slightly fancier space. “I wouldn't characterize our former space as class A,” says Mussina. “Now we're in a much better location, and much closer to the airport.”

But why no acquisitions yet, which the company anticipated last summer? Why no push into Europe? As readers may recall, the deal last June saw Halifax Group of Washington, D.C., and SV Life Sciences of Boston take a majority stake in the company. Patrick Donnelly joined the firm as Trio's CEO. Donnelly was president and CEO of PRA International, which acquired 10 companies in 13 years.

No Hurry

Mussina says the planned expansion has been stalled by the larger economic climate. And Trio is not in a hurry, he says. “We're adamant that we find [a company to acquire] that's just the right fit, and we're prepared to take our time,” he says. “But we're looking, and we're close.”

The CRO half of Trio has done 36 trials across many therapeutic areas, mostly in Phase I and II. If and when an expansion occurs, bigger trials are a hoped-for result.

Half & Half

Staffing still makes up about half of Trio's business. Mussina says the surge in pipeline momentum that the CRO side of the business is seeing lately is serving to fuel business on the staffing side. But also, the uptick in the economy is, too.

The firm has only added a few new employees since the equity partners came on, says Mussina. Its numbers still stand at near 70. The company has not had layoffs.

Despite what the stumbling economy has done to small biotech and pharma companies, those are still Trio's sweet spot, says Mussina. Thus far, none of Trio's sponsors has run out of money or shut its doors, he says.

While acquisitions both domestic and abroad are considered, Trio may soon be getting into sponsoring regional networking events, with talk of events in Boston and the Bay Area in the works—the main aim being creating good opportunities for networking with sponsors, says Mussina.

—by Suz Redfearn